Automatic railroad crossing signal



Dec.. 20, 1932. s. WENGER AUTOMATIC RAILROAD CROSSING SIGNAL Fil ed Dec. 18, 1931 INVENTOR 'l 35 -gate.

Patented Dec. 20, 1932 men". OFFICE SAMUEL WENGER, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

AUTOMATIC RAILROAD CROSSING- SIGNAL Application filedmecember 18, 1981. Serial No. 581,833

'This' inventionrelates to new and useful improvements in an automatic railway gate.

The invention has'for an object the construction ofan automatic railway gate which is characterized" by the ability of automatically closing the cross road upon the approach of a train and automatically moving to the open position after the train has passed.

that anyone caught upon the tracks may .move it to get out. 1 I

l A still'further object of this invention is the construction ofa device of the class de scribed which is of simple, durable construction, dependable in use and efficient in opera.- tion and which can be manufactured and sold at a reasonable cost.

For further comprehension of the inven- 'tion,'and of the objectsa-nd advantages there- 'of, reference will be had to the following descriptionand accompanying drawing, and to the appended claims in which the various novel features ofthe invention are more parv ticularly set forth- In the accompanying drawing forming a materialpart of this disclosure Fig. 1 is-a plan view of a portion of a railroad system shown at a crossing which is provided with automatic railway gates according to the invention.

Fig.2 is an elevational view ofFig. 1. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional enlarged view of the Fig. 4 is a horizontal view taken on the line -14 of-Fig. 3. r

5 is a schematicwiring diagram of the device.

The reference numeral 10 indicates the rails- "of a railroad system which crosses a road 11.

TrainslQ are shown approaching the cross-;

ing. Switches 13 are mountedupon the tracks some distance before the crossing and operable-by thetrain to cause the closing of gates 14 0a opposite sides of the railroad tracks and upon the cross'road 11. Other switches 15 are arranged upon the tracks past the cross roadffor the purpose of releasing the switches .;13 after: the train has passed.

"end upon the collar '19.

direction or the other." post which supports the railway Each of the gates 14 comprises a stationary post section 16 attached upon the ground and rotatively supporting an. upper post section 17. The upper section is formed with a hollow 18extending completely through from side to side- Adjustable means is provided for resiliently holding the rotative section 1 f1'7 in a pre-determined position-of rotation. jParticularly, it is proposed to arrange. the "gate in itsextended position resiliently so This means comprises collars 19,20, and21interposed between the stationary section 16 and the rotatable section 17. These collars have interengaging teeth 22 adapted to hold them in various fixed positions ofrotation underthe pressure of bolts 23 extending through the collars and into the stationary .post portion 16. R'ecesses 24 are cut in the rotative post portion 17 so that the heads ofthe bolts may be reached. A spring. 25 encircles a reduced portion 26 of the rotative section 17 and has one of its ends attached upon the i collar 21- and its other end upon the section 26.

A second spring27 is coaxi'ally arranged upon the reduced portion 26 and has one end connected on the reduced portion 26 and its other 76 The springs are so arranged that they oppose each other, that is one tends to turn the 'rotative'section 17in one direction and the other tends to turn section 17 inthe other direction. Thus therotative portion 17 will assume a stationary position under resilient action so that it may beturned either in one A lazytongs structure 30 is extended through the hollow 18 and is pivotally supported at 31 upon the rotative post section 17. Cushion members 32 are mounted upon the extended "ends of the lazy tongs sections and are supported by casters 33 resting upon 7 the ground. A means'is provided for extending andlretracting the lazy tongs structure and consists of a bell crank 34"connected with one of the members of the lazy "tongs structure and. pivotally, supported intermediatelyat 35upon the, postsection. The

'other'end of the bell crank connectswith the core 36 of a solenoid 37;

The solenoid 37is'in a circuit which includes a relay switchSS. This circuit also includes an alarm39 anda warning light/10. 1 0

The alarm and light preferably should be housed within the head portion almounted on the top of the post section 17. This head port-ion may have danger signals inscribed or mounted thereon.

The relay 38 is operated by a circuit 42 which includes a battery 43 and the switch 13. A catch 44. is connected with the switch 13 for the purpose of holding it closed when the train runs over it. This catch is engageable within a hook element 45 upon a lever 36 in the collars to allow relative adjustments of the collarsas before pointed out.

' The operation of'the device may be traced by assuming the train 12 in the act of closing the switch 13. .Thereupon, the circuit will be closed through the relay 38 which closes the circuit including a solenoid 37 so that the core 36 is moved and causes movement of the bell crank to extend the lazy tongs construction 30. Thus the gate is moved to the position where it closes the cross road 11. Should anybody be hit as the lazy tongs are extended, no damage will be done in that cushions 32 are mounted'upon the ends of the lazy tongs structure. As the train leaves the cross road it will normally close the switch 15 which will energize the electromagnet 47 and. release the switch 13 which thereupon opens and breaks the circuit through the relay with a consequent break of circuit through the solenoid 37. Thereupon the core of the solenoid which is of the spring operated type moves back to its original position and retracts the lazy tongs structure 30. The resilient construction of the rotatable post section 17 may be adjusted so that the lazy tongs structure opens transversely across the road 11-as shown in full lines on the drawing, or may be adjusted so that they open at an angle to the true transverse position. The dot and dash lines in Fig. 1 show an inclined opening.

This arrangement leaves room at the edges of the road so that persons cannot be entrapped and may walk off upon seeing the gate close the road. Simultaneously with the closing of the gate the alarm 39 will operate and the warning light will be illuminated.

The angular adjustment of the post section- 17 is accomplished by loosening the bolt 23 and turning'the collars 19 an'd 21 or either of these collars so as to change the relation of operation of the springs 25 and 26 to obtain the neutral position desired.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise construction herein disclosed and the right is reserved to all changes and modifications coming within the scope ofthe invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new, and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is 1. An automatic railway gate, comprising a stationary post, a rotatable section thereon and having a hollow extending from one side to the other, adjustable'means for resiliently holding said rotative section in apre-determined stationary position, a lazy tongs structure mounted within the hollow of the rotatable' post section and extendible from op-' posite sides thereof, cushioned members on the ends of said lazy tongs structure, and means for extending and retracting said lazy tongs structure comprising a bell crankconnected with-one of the links of the lazy tongs structure, a solenoid connected with said bell crank, and circuits including said solenoid, a switch on the track to "cause operation of the solenoid, and a switch on the trackpast the first mentionedswitchto cause de-energiza tion of the solenoid.

2. -An. automatic railway gate, comprising a stationary post, a rotatable section thereon and having a hollow extending from one side to the other, adjustable means for r'esiliently holding said rotative section in a pre-determined stationary position, a lazy tongs structure mounted within the hollow of the rotatable post section and extendible from opposite sides thereof, cushioned members on the ends of said lazy tongs structure, and means for extending and retracting said lazy tongs structurecomprismg a bell crank connected with one of the links of the lazy tongs structure, a solenoid connected with said bell crank, and circuits including said solenoid, a switch on the track to cause operation of the solenoid, and a switch on the track to cause deenergization of the solenoid,

castersbeing mounted on bottom ofqsaid' nected with one of the links of the lazy'tongs' structure, a solenoid connected with said bell crank, and circuits including said solenoid, a

switch on the track to cause operation of the and having a hollow extending from one side to the other, adjustable means for resiliently holding said rotative section in a pre-determined stationary position, a lazy tongs structure mounted within the hollow of the rotatable post section and extendible from opposite sides thereof, cushioned members on the ends of said lazy tongs structure and means for extending and retracting said lazy tongs structure comprising a bell crank connected with one of the links of the lazy tongs structure,a solenoid connected with said-bell crank,-and circuits including said solenoid, a switch on the track to cause operation of the solenoid, and a switch on the track past the first mentioned switchv to cause de-energization of the solenoid, said lazy tongs structure being supported int-erm'ediately within said hollow.

5. An automatic railway gate, comprising a stationary post, a rotatable section thereon and having a hollow extending from one side to the other, adjustable means for resiliently holding said rotative section in a pre-determined stationary position, a lazy tongs structure mounted within the hollow of the rotatable post section and extendible from opposite sides thereof, cushioned members onthe ends of said lazy tongs structure and means for extending and retracting said lazy tongs structure comprising a bell crank connected with one of the links of the lazy tongs structure, a solenoid connected with said bell crank, and circuits including said solenoid, a switch on the track to cause operation of the solenoid, and a switch on the track to' cause de-energization of the solenoid, said means for adjusting the resiliency of the rotative post section comprising adjustableresilient members tending to urge the post sections in opposite directions.

6. An automatic railway gate, comprising a stationary post, a rotatable sect-ion thereon and having a hollow extending from one side to the other, adjustable means for resiliently holding said rotative section in a pre-determined stationary position, a lazy tongs structure mounted within the hollow of the rotatable post section and extendible from opposite sides thereof, cushioned members on the ends of said lazy tongs structure and means for extending and retracting said lazy tongs structure comprising a bell crank connected with one of the links of the lazy tongs structure, a solenoid connected with said bell crank, and circuitsincluding said solenoid, a switch on the track tocause operation of'the solenoid, and a switch on the track to cause for adjusting theresiliency of the rotative post section comprising adjustable resilient opposite directions, comprising springs connected between the rotative post section and adjustable stationary cores. I

7. An automatic railway gate, comprising a stationary post, a rotatable section thereon and having a hollow extending from one side to the other, adjustable means forresiliently holding said rotative section in a pre-deter mined stationary position, a lazy tongs structure mounted within the hollow of the rotatde-energization' of the'solenoid, said means c-memberstendin'g to urge the post sections in j ablepost section and extendible from opposite sides thereof, cushioned members on the ends of said lazy tongs structure and means for extending and retracting said'lazy tongs structure comprising a bell crankconnected with one of the links of the lazy tongs structure, a solenoid connected with said bell crank, and circuits including said solenoid, a switch on the track to cause operation of the solenoid, and a second switch on the track past the first mentioned switch to; cause'deenergization of the solenoid, said second switch being in a circuit including an electromagnet for operating a release of the second switch controlling saidcircuit for operating the solenoid controlling said bell crank.

In testimony. whereof I have afiixed my signature.

SAMUEL WENGER. 

